Picking Up the Pieces (40 page)

"Um, sure," Max replied. He asked what she was drinking and then glanced at me. "You need anything?"

I shook my head and he started off toward the other end of the long bar.

"He’s really handsome, Crystal. Maybe you guys will really like each other,” Dana, one of the meeker minions, chimed in.

             
“Who cares about any of that? I mean, don’t get me wrong, it certainly helps that he’s attractive. But I only have eyes for one thing . . . his credit card.” Crystal cackled at her little joke and her hyenas all joined in. “God, athletes are so stupid.”

             
“He’s not stupid,” I said quietly as I brought my drink up to my lips and took a sip through the straw.

             
“Excuse me?” Crystal asked as though I had offended her by addressing her at all.

             
“I said,” I paused, as I geared myself up to intentionally raise my voice, “he’s not stupid. But you sure as shit are if you think he's falling for your bullshit.” My eyes locked on hers, beckoning her to battle. Tina sat up a little straighter behind me, getting herself ready in case this turned ugly.

             
“Please, by the time I'm done with him, he'll be so smitten he'll barely be able to see straight. And after I get him back to his place tonight, he’ll be hooked.”

             
“Better watch out for his whore sniffing dogs,” I muttered.

             
“What the fuck did you just say to me?” Crystal stood up taller and entered my personal space.
Bad move, Sybil.

             
“I’m pretty sure you heard me. You stay the fuck away from Max. He’s too good for you, so catch the next Greyhound back to Trampsylvania." I was off my stool in an instant, pushing back into the space we now shared.

             
“You’re just jealous. I know all about how you tried to seduce him last year. And it clearly didn’t work. Don’t hate on me because I'm about to get what you couldn’t.” Her lips twitched into a cruel smile. She thought she had really zinged me with that one.

             
“I don’t want to be with Max.” My voice was low, but firm.

             
“Bullshit. It’s written all over your face. You want him. But you can’t get
him.” She backed away from me slightly and folded her arms across her chest, assuming the position of victory.

That’s when I verbally launched on her.
“I don’t want to be with Max because he deserves better than me. And he sure as shit deserves better than you. He’s a good man. A great man, actually. So if you think for two seconds that I’m going to sit here and let you hurt him, you’ve got another thing coming. I will go to prison for murdering your skanky ass before I let you anywhere near him.” My eyes bore into her, daring her to test me. And as I watched her face, I saw it change slightly. I silently began congratulating myself on the verbal lashing when I heard a throat clear.

“A great man, huh?”

My body tensed instantly at the sound of his voice. I turned slowly and gazed up into those blue eyes I knew so well.
Fuck. Me.

"Uh, that . . . that was . . . umm, how much of that did you hear?" I finally choked out.

"Enough," Max said, clearly irritated. "Outside. Now. We need to talk." He grabbed my hand and pulled me easily from the bar. His pace was difficult to keep up with. I would've been silently celebrating my success at getting Max away from Crystal if I hadn't been so nervous. He was angry, and there weren't many creatures in the animal kingdom that were more daunting than a pissed off Max Samson.

"Max, wait," I pleaded as he pushed open the bar doors, still yanking me along behind him.

He turned right and guided me around to the rear of Flanagan's. It was pretty secluded there
,
since the restaurant backed up to
a bunch of trees.

This is going to be bad. Really bad.

Once we reached the back, Max used my forward momentum to spin me around and force me up against the wall in front of him. He then put two arms on either side of my head, caging me in. "Tell me what the hell that was."

I was in a state of shock. The dominance Max exuded was hot as hell. Pair that with his proximity and I was damn near orgasmic. "I was . . . I was defending you."

"Don't bullshit me, Lily. That's not all you were doing. What you said, did you mean it?" His voice was stern, and it made me even wetter.

"Which part?" My b
rain was short-circuiting, and it was allowing incredibly stupid shit to come out of my mouth.

He bent
his elbows and brought his body in tighter to mine. His voice was a deep whisper when he finally spoke. "Do you really think I could do better than you?"

I met his gaze, though the way his eyes seared into me, I was finding it difficult to breathe. My chest rose and brushed against his hard body. My nipples puckered immediately, and my tongue darted out to moisten my lips. "I
know
you could do better than me, Max. You always could have."

He brought his hand up to cup my jaw. "Lily, when are you going to get it?
There is no better than you."

I barely had time to process his words before his lips crushed
against mine, the hand that had been on my face now twisting in my hair, holding me firmly in place. I couldn't hold back a moan of sheer bliss as he rocked his erection into me, making it clear that he still wanted me. In every way.

He moved both hands to cup my ass and lifted, causing my legs to instinctively wrap around him. His mouth was everywhere: my lips, my jaw, my ear, my neck. My skin was ablaze wherever he touched me. This was the feeling I'd been missing. I was finally alive.

"I want to make one thing very clear," he murmured, his lips against my skin. "You and I are going to have a do-over. I'm going to take you against this wall, just as I did in that airport a year and a half ago. But this time, when we’re done, I get to keep you." He pulled back slightly to meet my eyes. "Do you understand? You'll be mine, Lily. Only mine."

I summoned all the strength I could and returned his gaze with passion equal to his. Maybe greater. "Under one condition."
He looked at me expectantly, waiting for me to name my terms. I smiled at him, a smile meant to hold all the promise in the world. "You'll need to be mine too."

His eyes darkened with hunger, and something else I could only describe as love. "Doll, I've been yours since the day we met."

And with that declaration, we wasted no time picking up where we’d left off: all mouths, hands, and throbbing need.

"You wore a fucking skirt on purpose, didn't you? When you put it on this morning, you prayed it would end up around your waist."

"Damn right I did," I replied as I pushed one hand into his hair and dug the nails of my other into his shoulder.

Max's hand drifted beneath my skirt, which had already been hiked up when I wrapped my legs around him. "This is in my way," he muttered as he ripped my thong from my body.

The warm air hit me at the apex of my thighs, and I briefly thought I would lose it right there.
I needed him inside of me. Right then. So I pushed toward the ground with my legs, a silent plea for him to put me down. When he complied, I ran my hand down his stomach, toward his waistband, easily unbuttoning his jeans
so I could pull down his zipper. I reached into his jeans and immediately found his straining cock.
No boxers. Glad some things never change
. I ran my hand over it, wanting to touch him freely, like I used to before I told myself he wasn't what I wanted. I couldn't have been more wrong.

Max
suddenly reached into his pocket to withdraw a condom.

"Always ready, aren't you?" I jested.

"A guy can hope."

I took the foil wrapper from him, ripped it open with my teeth, and leaned back against the wall so I could reach down to sheath him with the thin latex. Once I had rolled it down his hard length,
he lifted me back up into his arms as I guided him to where I needed him most.

He wasted no time thrusting inside of me. My back bowed and I stifled a loud groan by digging my teeth into Max's clothed shoulder as he stroked me steadily, forcefully from the inside.

"Look at me," he commanded.

I lifted my head.

"You're going to watch me so that you never forget who does this to you, who makes you feel this good."

I didn't respond, but did as he instructed
,
taking in his piercing blue stare that seemed to see right through me. The feel of him pushing into me was euphoric, and I hated that it would eventually have to end.

"Who do you belong to, Lily?"

"You," I hissed, barely able to get enough air into my lungs to respond.

"And why do you belong to me?"

"Because you love me," I answered, honestly.

His rhythm faltered slightly, letting me know that my answer had surprised him. "Who do I belong to?" His question was soft, almost unsure, like he wasn't certain what I was going to say and was rattled by the unsettling feeling.

"Me. You belong to me."

He continued to thrust, but his pace slowed as he looked at me as though he were trying to memorize exactly how I looked in that moment. "Why do I belong to you?"

My answer came without the slightest hesitation
. "Because I love you."

"Say it again," he demanded as he thrust deeper, harder, causing me to cry out.

"I love you," I ground out as my orgasm built within me. Max rocked his hips into me hard, and I welcomed him every time.

"I'm so close. You don’t know how mu
ch I’ve wanted to do this again, feel the warmth of being inside you.” His pace increased, causing me to shiver with pleasure as his breath tickled my ear. “Come with me, doll."

I put my hands on his shoulders for some leverage, and began to bear down on him, impaling myself on his thick shaft.

Max let out a guttural moan. "That's it. God, you feel so good. Just like that. I'm gonna come, Lily. You there with me?"

I mewled. "I'm
there."

He found his release at my words.
Then his head dropped to my chest as he pumped into me, filling the condom as his cock thrummed inside of me. I followed him over the edge, my body shaking with pleasure as I milked every drop of cum from him. “Max,” I sighed, knowing that there was probably nothing else he’d rather hear more. My body was limp in his arms, perfectly sated.

We stood there for a few moments, trying to catch our breaths and enjoying being wrapped in each other. Finally, Max lifted his head so he could look at me. "Say it again," he rasped.

I caressed his face. "I love you, Max," I said, hoping he could see the veracity of the words in my eyes.

“
I know you do, doll,” he said with a wink. “It's about damn time you realized it.”
He leaned in and kissed me. It was a soft, meaningful kiss–one meant to mark this moment as a time of firsts for us.

The first time we'd made love without all the bullshit in the way. The first time we were both completely honest with one another. The first time we accepted that this was what we had needed all along. This is what made us complete: each other.

"I thought I'd never see you again," Max whispered as he feathered kisses wherever his mouth could reach.

"What, after A.C.?"

He shook his head lightly. "After I left your apartment last April. After the fundraiser."

I pulled back, looking at him quizzically.
Does he need to be cryptic right now?
"I've seen you a bunch of times since then."

"I haven't seen you. Not the
real
you. Not the one I fell in love with in that airport." He sighed. "I thought I'd lost you forever. I missed ya, doll."

I felt my eyes water as I processed what he
’d said. I finally got it. While I had needed to grow up over the past year, I also still needed that spark that made me who I was. Somewhere along the way I’d lost it. Max had made me realize that there was room for both. I could be this mature woman who made good decisions
and
still be that wild girl who let Max fuck her against a random wall here and there. In fact, being both was the only thing that would let me be truly happy. Well, that and getting Max somewhere more private so we could figure out where we went from there, and then see how many orgasms we could give each other in one weekend.

"What are you thinking about?" he asked as he lowered me to the ground.

I smiled. "About how similar this is to our airport escapade."

The smile he had been returning faltered. While that encounter had been mind-blowing, it hadn't exactly turned out the way Max had hoped.

I moved in closer to him. "And about how different the rest will be." His smile returned as I continued, "Take me home, Max."

And he did.